Come Away With Me
by Unforgettable Green Eyes
Summary: Behind a lonely little cottage, a familiar brunette is hard at work tending to her garden and trying not to think about the swordsman whose absence weighs heavily on her mind. Takes place four years after FFVII. Cleris.


**Note:** Inspired by Norah Jones' 'Come Away With Me' and contains elements from it. I was listening to the song the other day and this scene just popped up into my head and I saw everything happen so vividly, I had to write it down. Hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, not even the title.

_**Come Away With Me**_

Tossing another clump of weeds onto the small pile of assorted wild plants she's collected thus far, Aeris sighs and wipes the perspiration from her forehead with the back of her arm. The movement causes her hair ribbon that has been sliding steadily down the end of her braid for the past hour to fall off completely, and her hair begins to come loose.

Somewhere off in the distance, she hears a distinctive rumbling, and something sputtering, and for one brief second, hope explodes in her chest as her green eyes light up, and she turns her head swiftly in the direction of the sound, only to remember—Fenrir is in the shed. But the sound has died down anyway. Whoever is out there is too far to be heard anymore.

She wipes her face again and blows her breath at the bangs falling in front of her eyes. The leafy branches of the lone oak tree hanging overhead provide plenty of shade but the late morning sun is already intensely hot, and beating down unmercifully upon the surface of the planet.

She feels unusually restless today. Tense. Excited.

Weeding the garden has given her something to do but her thoughts are not with the flowers or vegetable garden she finds such pride in. Even the pleasure of the new seedlings has not been able to help take her mind off of her worries.

She wonders how he is faring.

If he's in battle even right now.

The phone is ringing inside the house, she realizes, and drops the gardening tool to scramble quickly to her feet, accidentally knocking over the watering can sitting beside her. Without bothering to right the spilling can, she gathers up her skirt, and races inside the small stone cottage she now calls home. The screen door swings loudly back and forth behind her on its creaking hinges as she runs through the tiny kitchen into the living room and grabs the phone.

"Hello," Aeris gasps breathlessly into the receiver just as a soft click sounds in her ear. "Hello—! No, please! Don't hang up—!"

There is a sinking feeling in her stomach as she listens to the dial tone, sensing deep down that she's just missed him. She hasn't heard from him in nine days now. It will probably be at least another week before he can call again. Her shoulders droop, and she hangs her head, trying to fight back the tears as she replaces the phone back in the cradle.

She stares at it, willing it to ring, but there is only silence.

Her eyes fall on the set of keys lying on the table next to the phone. They've been left exactly as they were, the day they'd come back from visiting the town and he'd tossed them there. Her fingers reach out now to touch the key to Fenrir. Lightly, gingerly, just making contact. She doesn't want it to be moved in any way.

"Cloud," she whispers, leaning back against the wall, and closing her eyes painfully. "Are you all right?"

The only answer is the ticking of the clock hanging over the fireplace.

She knows he is alive. Her Cetra abilities would've told her otherwise if he'd joined the planet and the unusual bond they share allows her to keep tabs on his well-being, but none of that lessens any of her anxieties. Incredibly skilled with a sword in battle and much stronger and powerful than the average human with his Jenova cells, he is still very fragile. And selfish as it is of her, she wants and prays desperately for it all just to be over and have him come back soon. The world may need him but _she_ needs him safe. And home is the safest place for him to be.

"Come home." The words are softly spoken but it doesn't matter. Somewhere out there, he'll feel them.

Taking a deep breath, Aeris opens her eyes again, and brings her head up to glance out the window. The sight of the rolling hills of green grass that has slowly been turning yellow in the heat of summer helps somewhat to put her heart and mind at ease.

Their cottage sitting at the top of this lonely hill is the only house for miles and miles around. It's not much but it's theirs and she'd fallen in love with it from the moment she'd first laid eyes on it. She'd thought it the perfect place for them to start their new life together once he'd walked away from a life of fighting. But then the call came and he's been gone for months—she doesn't want to think about how many days it's been but she knows the exact number anyway. The days and the hours. Right down to the minute.

Without him, the house is just a house. It's not home. It's empty.

She gazes out at the countryside, seeing the land as it had been the last time he'd been there with her. On the morning he'd left, the fresh new grass outside had been covered in a white blanket of snow from the blizzard that had hit unexpectedly the night before. Now, heat is rolling off across the fields in waves, and that same grass is drying and losing its rich vibrant color.

She sighs and slowly peels the gardening gloves back from her hands, her eyes on the grass waving gently in the breeze outside the window.

Her heart suddenly leaps in her chest.

It can't be.

Yanking the second glove off, she lunges across the room and throws the front door open as the gloves fall unnoticed to the floor.

Heart hammering, chest heaving, she can barely breathe as she brings a hand up to shield her eyes from the sun's unforgiving glare and peers hard across the hill.

There is nothing but the long grass dancing quietly in the wind, looking like endless fields of wheat from afar.

But no.

There.

She just saw it again.

A movement.

Something golden moving among the darker grass.

A head.

She gasps, her hand going up over her mouth.

Her heart pounding, she takes an unsteady step forward. Then another. And another.

And she is suddenly running, flying down the small dirt path in front of the cottage, her hair streaming behind her as it continues to unravel from its thick plait, unaware of the tears streaking down her cheeks. The top of his head appears over the rise of the hill and she comes to an abrupt halt as his face comes into view. It takes her all of a second's glance to determine that he is looking well, if slightly paler and thinner, and notice that his blond hair is longer than before, and glinting in the bright sunlight.

There is just a small stretch of grass remaining between her and the spiky-haired man who is walking up towards the house, a huge sword strapped to his back. Aeris stares at him across the short distance separating them, her eyes riveted on his face, unable to move, as he reaches the crest and stops, standing stock still.

Staring back at her.

She is reminded of that freezing spring morning when she'd watched him leave on Cid's airship from almost this very same spot, numb with fear and apprehension, filled with misgivings, wondering how in the world she could let him put himself in danger yet again. Wishing for nothing more than to just hold him close and never let anything else hurt him.

But looking at him now, everything, the aching loneliness, the terrible emptiness, it all washes away as her eyes caress every detail of the beloved face she hasn't seen for so many months. An eternity.

The home they'd just barely moved into now feels full and complete once more.

As does she. Overwhelmingly so.

The wind blows gently about them, rustling the edges of her dress faintly and whipping a tendril of brown hair into her face as they stare at one another, each taking note of the changes in the other's appearance, the moment taut, fraught with emotion, both their bodies strung tight, both of them breathing hard.

"_Cloud."_

_He's home._

_Finally._

Unable to bear it another second, she makes a strangled sound in her throat and bolts forward. She finds herself caught up against a hard chest, equally hard arms closing so tight about her, she can't breathe as she tightens her own arms around his neck, and he lifts her up off the ground, his face buried against her neck, hers in his hair.

Cloud murmurs her name into her throat and her body jerks involuntarily against him. How she loves the sound of her name on his lips.

"You're home," she manages to choke out as she cries into his hair.

The sound of her voice makes him place her back down on her feet. Her fingers dig into his shoulders, not letting him go, as he pulls back to look down at her.

"I'm home," he agrees hoarsely, his voice washing over her, and touches a callused hand to her wet cheek.

Her heart thumps painfully, and Aeris sniffs and nods her head in understanding as he brushes the sweaty bangs back from her temple. A thumb rubs lightly over a smooth, delicate cheekbone, removing the smudge of dirt she hadn't realized is there.

"So am I." She holds him tighter, presses her face against his chest as he hugs her even closer to him. Lifting her head back up, she takes his face into her hands. "Are you home for good?"

He nods.

"Dear gods."

She stands up on tiptoes to kiss him. Softly. Gently. Trembling and reeling with relief and happiness, barely able to contain it all.

How she's been able to live without this, she doesn't know; being in his arms, being able to touch and feel him, to hold him, to kiss him. To love him.

Like a shriveled plant kept hidden and wilting away in darkness that is suddenly brought out into the light, stunning all and sundry by sprouting the most magnificent colorful blooms, she springs to life and blossoms under his presence. Just as the dry earth soaks up water, she soaks him in. Just as her flowers need the sun and the rain, she needs him.

"I love you," she sobs against him, and he groans, slants his mouth over hers, and kisses her harder. She moans, and his arms tighten about her, and she has to draw back to find air.

"Your hair's grown." He is threading his fingers through the chestnut curls hanging down at her back and waist.

"You've been gone for a long time."

She brings a hand up to cup his face, run her fingers lovingly over his hard jaw. His face is more gaunt, his cheeks more hollow, and there are dark circles of fatigue under his eyes. But she can fix those easily enough.

"Not as long as you were gone," he reminds her softly.

Her lips tremble. "Yes, but I never really left you. I was with you even then."

"This time too."

"Oh gods," she whispers, clasping him tighter still. "I missed you so."

"So did I. I felt you with me every minute of the day but…I still missed you."

She runs shaking hands over him gently, trying to suppress the need to do a more thorough check-up of his body right then and there that she knows he will object to. "Well?" she asks anxiously. "Aren't you going to tell me?"

"It's done. It took us a while, going after the both of them at once, and being pulled in different directions. But they're gone, hopefully for good this time..."

She laughs, torn between amusement, frustration, and worry still. "I meant, how are _you_?"

Mako-blue eyes glow with a light that no other SOLDIER has. "I'm fine, as you can see."

"No bruises, burns, scratches, wounds of any kind?" she queries, and he smiles slightly, shakes his head. "Absolutely nothing?"

"I had plenty of materia for that. Which reminds me, I got some new ones."

Warm wind riffles through his hair and she touches a hand to the blond locks falling down over his forehead, her brow furrowing as she gazes at the fine strands between her fingers. They're a shade paler than they used to be.

"Did you create them?"

Cloud knows what she is asking.

"No. I didn't have to use them much. Yuffie gave these new ones to me. She said you'll be interested in seeing them."

"How did she get them?"

"She brought them with her from Wutai." He chuckles and presses his lips to the top of her head.

Aeris glances up at him, startled. "Cloud?"

The glowing blue eyes are clear. Untroubled.

This is not the face of the broken man whose mind she'd had a hand in helping to glue back together, piece by piece, four years ago. Or the face of the lifeless man whose heart she'd had to mend a year ago.

He _is_ fine.

Her body shudders as the endless concerns and fears slowly begin to melt away.

"You really _are_ all right." There is a tremor in her voice.

She'll make sure he stays that way from here on out. The world will just have to do without him from now on. It is time someone takes care of _him_.

"You're here," he says quietly.

Leaning up, she kisses him again.

"Come, love." She smiles into his eyes as she takes his hand into hers. Their home is waiting for them. Their life. "It's time to let someone else worry about the planet."


End file.
